David Liss bids farewell to ‘Black Panther’ this week

San Antonio-based novelist David Liss concludes his urban jungle adventures with the Black Panther in this week’s Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive No. 529, which hits Wednesday. It’s a damn shame, and I’m not just saying that because of Liss’ local ties. The scribe behind The Twelfth Enchantment and other historical fiction really brought a refreshing, gritty sophistication to T’Challa defending Hell’s Kitchen while Daredevil went off to lick his Shadowland wounds. And solid moody art by the likes of Francesco Francavilla, Jefte Palo and Michael Avon Oeming really made this book sizzle.

Liss goes out in a blaze of glory with a climactic throwdown between the Black Panther and the Kingpin in what Marvel calls a “status-quo changing series finale.” The ish costars Luke Cage, the Falcon, Lady Bullseye and Typhoid Mary. Click the images for a larger view.

For more Liss comic action, check out the recent hardcover release of his equally stellar Mystery Men miniseries, which delivers the very noir-ish origin of costumed vigilantes in the days before Captain America. And this spring Liss delivers more pulpy classicism with Dynamite’s The Spider, a Golden Age hero very much like the Shadow.